Anyone here traveled on Amtrak?

[Catonahottinroof]

The wife and I are quasi-empty nested at the moment. We have considered at trip to see our daughter at The Citadel, then Amtrak from Savannah to NYC.

Good time, or time and fare money wasted?

[dan_bgblue]

Never taken a ride on them. Have thought of it often though

[Krank]

Last time I rode Amtrak, I took it from Chicago to Indy. The times listed for arrival were VERY VERY WRONG, i.e. it was like 3.5 hours LATE.

It kept stopping, over and over again, to let freight traffic pass. I asked the conductor about that. He said (paraphrasing) that freight rules the rails since folks are so car-addicted that passenger trains between cities can't be the priority (at least in Indiana, I suppose, lol). When I asked why they couldn't warn passengers as to an estimated delay either before they buy their tickets OR during the actual trip, he responded with something TRULY lame (i.e. he passed the buck to corporate, lol, saying something about how he wasn't allowed to "guess").

So I cannot recommend it based on that ONE experience, but it is my understanding that the East coast populous uses Amtrak type trains between cities a LOT more than anywhere else, i.e. a lot of folks have to commute city-to-city, say between Philly and DC, etc., so maybe their schedules are more reliable.

My suggestion is to try to find out, if possible, how the freight schedules run along your route, which really means where do the freight rails intersect, how many intersections are there, and how often do they run on the day(s) you are looking at.

Sorry to be a downer, but hope this helps.

[Darrell KSR]

The Crescent City Classic runs daily between Birmingham and New Orleans. Pretty convenient times, and not terribly longer than driving. Been wanting to go for a long time. One day when we have an extra day or two, we will.

[blueboss]

I took Amtrak from Cincinnati to White Sulphur Springs WVA. where we had a rent a car waiting for us to drive up to Snow Shoe.

We absolutely had a blast, we did ride in coach and if I had to do it again I would definitely upgrade to something more comfortable.

One thing we noticed, the train bumps and sways and after an eight hour ride when we got off we still had the sensation of bumping and swaying. Kind of like being at sea.

I'd definitely take another. I'd really like to take the time and do one of those Pacific West National Park trips...


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[Krank]

I took Amtrak from Cincinnati to White Sulphur Springs WVA. where we had a rent a car waiting for us to drive up to Snow Shoe.

We absolutely had a blast, we did ride in coach and if I had to do it again I would definitely upgrade to something more comfortable.

One thing we noticed, the train bumps and sways and after an eight hour ride when we got off we still had the sensation of bumping and swaying. Kind of like being at sea.

I'd definitely take another. I'd really like to take the time and do one of those Pacific West National Park trips...


Seems like I have heard the trips out West, in general, are pretty cool. Would love to travel up through Canada into Alaska that way.